What an amazingly bad call, not to mention some bad pass interference calls earlier. The end of the game left even the commentators in shock. And having the packers come out of the locker room for the extra point. Bad, bad, bad.

What a game, what an ending. Both the Packers and the Seahawks were on the receiving end of some lousy calls. Golden Tate's catch in the endzone was legit, since the tie goes to the receiver. He did get away with a pushoff beforehand though. I'll take it.

Oh, I don't know if this games the worse ever. If Althouse recalls' the NFC Conference Title game in for the 2009 season had terrible officating plus just a tad coruption amongst the home team players and coaches. But still the Ain't went in spite of their terrible habits.

Packers showed class coming back on the field for the extra point. Can't believe how bad the officiating has been, culminating with the buffoonery at the end of this game. Just goes to show how tough this job can be.

Although they are handsomely compensated for doing it ( at least the ones on strike).

And to Andy's point, the main sticking point for the refs is the change over of their guaranteed pension to a 401k style plan. The refs are part-time employees making around 70 grand a year. I find it hard to be sympathetic to their plight and I doubt others would as well.

Brian, the call was wrong. Jennings clearly had possession prior to Tate placing his arm in between Jennings. It was not a "50/50" ball where the offensive player would get it.

Tate had both hands on the ball initially. He briefly let go with his right hand and then regained possession before they hit the ground. I can see some ambiguity in the call but it is not as cut-and-dried as you make it out to be.

The Packers are at fault for trying for the INT instead of just slapping the ball away and leaving no doubt.

Brian, you're just wrong. The DB had the ball first, and ALWAYS had both hands on it and brought it to his chest. Tate never had more than one hand on the ball (the other was wrapped around the DB, not the ball).

Allen, replay officials can alert the referee to review a certain play, like a touchdown or turnover, but the final decision comes from the ref. the replay officials do not make any on the field calls.

P.S. all these fixed games remind me of the '76 Olympic basketball final between the Soviets and the U.S. The fix was in then, big time. The U.S. players to this day refuse to accept their silver medals.

The last call could have been called either way. Tate caught the ball, and maintained possession all the way to the ground, in the endzone. By the rules, that's a touchdown.The defender also caught the ball, and maintained possession all the way to the ground, in the endzone. By the rules, that's a touchback.At the end, it was a judgement call as to which of the incompatible rules took precedence. I'm fine with *this* ruling.

It's the rulings prior that cast the final play into such doubt. I'm a Seahawks fan, and I'll freely admit that the Packers got robbed. Not on the final play (except that Tate should have been called for Offensive Pass Interference before the catch). But the last few minutes of the game were pretty horrendously called.

Not that the "regular" refs are much better. Superbowl XL stands as a case in point (as do several other high-profile games in which the refs took an active hand.)

I don't care for either team, for obvious reasons, but yes, the Packers were robbed by a terrible call.

Isn't that why they review every touchdown anyway?

Anyway, yes, they need to resolve this - but the refs are going to have to give on their defined benefit retirement plan - for a part time job paying an average of $145K for 20 weeks work? That's absurd.

but the refs are going to have to give on their defined benefit retirement plan - for a part time job paying an average of $145K for 20 weeks work? That's absurd.

You sound like a couple of my liberal friends who complain about the salaries/benefits of NFL players in general...they simply refuse to beleive that someone should be paid so much for just playing a game, and "absurd" is also the exact word that tends to get used.

The regular refs pretty frequently blow obvious calls that change the outcome of the games. They might have gotten that one right, but it's almost a dead certainty that if they'd been working this entire season, at some point they would have made a call just as bad that proved to be just as much a deciding factor in a game.

As for devaluing their product - this is a league that caught one of its premier teams in an institution-wide cheating scandal, knew that it had gone on throughout all their championship seasons, gave the coach a slap on the wrist, destroyed the evidence and let them keep their fraudulent titles. Any fans who believe the NFL has any kind of integrity is delusional.

PP, I have no problem with their salaries nor the salaries of pro athletes. All I am saying is that I find it hard to be sympathetic to the retirement plight (and other grievances) of a well compensated part-time employee who works 16 days a year for about 70 grand.

"You sound like a couple of my liberal friends who complain about the salaries/benefits of NFL players in general...they simply refuse to beleive that someone should be paid so much for just playing a game, and "absurd" is also the exact word that tends to get used."

You might think so, but you'd be wrong.

I don't care what they are paid; I do care that they are striking for something no full time NFL employee has: a defined benefit retirement plan.

These are part time jobs.

There might be one or two employers in the US who offer retirement for part-time employees, but I don't know of any. If there are any, I doubt they offer defined benefit retirement plans.

So blaming the NFL for this, rather than the refs, in my opinion is just dumb.

Amazing how more "serious" issues occupy your mind when corruption is right in front of you.

Quite frankly, I'll bet you think the following are "no big deal": Fast & Furious...Treasury Secretary cheating on his taxes....Obama burning the 1st Amendment to the ground...embassy attacks...bankruptcy of the country...

I could go on, but its clear that you think a major fix costing millions of dollars on national TV is no biggie.

Whore, you're partisan analysis is duly noted. As a former Cleveland Brown's fan, it's hard for me to get excited about the current why's and wherefore's of the NFL.

Just another reason why one shouldn't bet on sports. Wagering notwithstanding, there have been reports of a husband beating his wife and shooting the television set :D after his team lost an important game.

Just another reason why one shouldn't bet on sports.---Not fixed games, anyway. Unless you're the fixer. Like when Barney the Fag fixed it so Freddie and Fannie wouldn't be investigated, and then got his prostitute-boyfriend a job there.

Wagering notwithstanding, there have been reports of a husband beating his wife and shooting the television set :D after his team lost an important game.

"Waaa! Stop talking about corruption and Obama in the same sentence! Waaa! Look the other way, change the subject, don't make fun of Barry the Affirmative Action President! Waa! I like fixed games! Waa!"

The ESPN commentary was awful. At one point, the claimed a call was bad, when it clearly wasn't.

Maybe the call should have gone the other way, but Green Bay played terrible and shouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. Rodgers was sacked eight times in the first half (not a record, but pretty bad.)

The NFL owners historically have been excellent in handling their labor relations. They basically have won all their disputes wiht the players.

Here, they probably made a mistake in taking on a labor dispute with a peripheral part of their product, but a highly visible one that inevitably would produce controversy on the field. There was almost no chance the NFL would wind up looking good using replacement officials. The call tonight will doom the owner's labor position, with the still photograph showing the two officials purportedly making different calls (not necessarily true)becoming iconic. They also will be hurt by the official missing the clear offensive interference penalty prior to the catch (even though that type of penalty also is missed all the time by the regular officials).

HOWEVER, the call might be correct. I will be interested to hear what the NFL says tomorrow. The reason the call might be correct is that there is no "catch" by the defender until he comes down with both feet on the ground and, at that point, it looks like it was a shared catch, which goes to the receiver. None of the TV people at this point have considered that issue. They are all looking at how the defender "caught" the ball at the top of his jump. If the relevant time is when the defender has both feet on the ground, it is a very close call.

---Yes, its really horrible for you lefties if an anti-lefty starts being passionate and refuses to follow the rules you require of us. How dare I get upset at massive fraud and corruption! Off with his head!

Yeah. Because it's not like the Seahawks have ever been jobbed, right?

Without even getting into the nonsense that was Super Bowl XL, do recall officials ruling Vinny Testeverde's helmet - not the football - crossed the goaline giving the Jets a win and in the process, cost Seattle a playoff berth.

So, pardon me if I don't get the vapors over one call during Week Three.

It also is true, as some have pointed out, that defenders should not go for interceptions in this situation. They really should bat the ball out of the end zone if possible and, if not, they should bat it down (some risk that they will bat it to an offensive player, but more risk trying to catch it).

How badly do you have to devalue your brand before the customers throw up their hands in disgust and walk away? Probably quite a bit more than this. The NFL realizes this, which is why the replacement refs will probably still be around next week. The NFL has their money, and that's all they care about. Integrity of the game? If they cared about it, they wouldn't insult your intelligence like Jay Carney by using replacement refs.

I do feel sorry for that official coming up and looking at the players, realizing he had to make a call. There is not way that he could have actually known whether it was a shared catch when the players came down by looking at them after they have been on the ground for several seconds. He was screwed and had to make a call.

Clyde, I just don't understand why the owners would take the risk of TEMPORARILY devaluing their brand over just a few million dollars. It does not seem worth it, but the damage will be temporarily. Since this is a political site (largely), compare it to the damage to Bill Clinton's brand when he was caught with Monica and lied to save his job. Big hit short term, but as far as I can tell, virtually no damage long term.

We were at the game, wearing our Packer colors, and along with the rest of the Packer fans, simply stunned when we heard the call. Then the text messages started streaming in from friends watching the game at home. Everyone of them, including our Seahawk-fan friends, basically said the same thing you said, Ann: the Packers got robbed. On our walk up Capitol Hill from Century Link Stadium, a motorist suddenly pulled over to the curb next to us and jumped out of the car. I thought he was in some sort of disparate state and was about to ask us for help, but much to our surprise he confessed that he was a die-hard Seahawks fan, but he wanted us to know that it was a terrible call and that the Packers were the real winners of that game. Such is the sentiment in Seattle.

But wait. Everybody ought to get a shot! They felt like they were trying their hardest and doing their best. Everybody makes mistakes. You want to shut out a class of men and women from reaching the top.

Who else came to the game with shaky credentials and little experience in the big league?

I'd be willing to bet that the locked out refs will back up this call at the end of the day. Both players were fighting for the ball. You won't find many, if any plays where both the reciever and defender are lying on the ground fighting for possession and the reciever isn't given the reception. Any regular watcher of the game see's those tug of wars on a somewhat regular basis, and how often does that call go to the defender? The answer is never.

It's such a bang-bang play, so the assumption that a tie goes to the reciever means once a ref sees the fight for possession and calls it a reception that's all there is to say about it. Replay isn't going to turn that call around because it can't. Maybe the replay official sees the defender having a better position in super slow mo, but he's not ruling on possession, he's ruling on whether or not it's a catch in the first place.

Didn't see it live but heard the screaming right away when my alarm went off this morning. After seeing the slo-mo replays from every angle I would say the evidence slightly favors the Packers defender. But mostly I would like to point out how odd it is to hear fans cheering for the regular refs, sure can't recall hearing any love for them ever over the last several decades of NFL football. Admit it, they stink too, and history is full of examples of how they blew calls (or even coin tosses) and effected outcomes of bigger games than this. I'm not so sure they locked out zebras would have made the call any better than these greenhorns did.

Am I the only one who appreciates the irony that while everybody else is complaining that the replacement refs ignored a blatant offensive pass interference call, Seahawks fans are still complaining that 7 years ago the normal refs robbed their team by properly calling a blatant offensive pass interference?

P.S. all these fixed games remind me of the '76 Olympic basketball final between the Soviets and the U.S. The fix was in then, big time. The U.S. players to this day refuse to accept their silver medals.

Several have, in their wills, demands that their children cannot accept them, either.

That was egregious.

As for last night, let's not wax too nostalgic about the "real" refs. They did botch such things as coin tosses.

HOWEVER, the call might be correct. I will be interested to hear what the NFL says tomorrow. The reason the call might be correct is that there is no "catch" by the defender until he comes down with both feet on the ground

...which is key. A pass that is caught in mid-air and dropped before the feet touch the ground isn't ruled a catch and a fumble. It's rules incomplete. Getting your hands on the ball isn't the only thing you have to do.

Heck, after tonite's game the owners will be lucky to get what was last offered by the union. If I'm negotiating for the refs then the terms have just changed.

Given no appreciable change in attendance, ratings, or revenue --- the league still has no reason to give in.

Refs aren't that hard to replace. The "real" ones were about as incompetent.

And Green Bay played like a plate of refried shit. How about block for a QB once in a while? Might not be in that situation.

waah. that's football. your team shouldn't have let it be so close. and it wouldn't have been close if the pack hadn't benefited from a bad call. it's not like the locked out part-time officials never blew calls. they did constantly. and if you let it get to that point, you take your chances.

I'm pretty sure this NFL thing is the best opportunity labor in America is ever going to have to convince people that scabs are a bad thing.

I'm shocked the nutty left is dehumanizing their opponents. Even when circumstances conspire to hand them a public relations gift they instead choose hatred. It must be confusing to go through life so full of both hate and self-righteousness.

The rules in pro football differ from the rules in college which differ from the rules in high school which differ from the rules in Pop Warner. The old AFL rules differed from the NFL rules. The NFL rules for this year differ from last year's rules.

But the elite sports media have been bad mouthing the replacement refs to manipulate the public into turning on the owners since the pre-season. They amp up the outrage on every bad call and insist/demand that the owners give in to the regular refs demands.

In this case Green Bay played like shit the entire first half. Their offensive line just didn't show up. If they'd made the adjustments they made after half-time in the first or second quarter, they may not have been in the position where the game came down to the last Hail Mary pass.

Poor coaching is getting a free pass so the elite sports media can pump their agenda that the owners are bad guys for not caving in to the regular refs demands.

The elite sports media is just as liberal and just as biased as the elite political media. No wonder Gallup says 60% of the country no longer trust the media.

Look there were some howlers both ways. I will say that the defensive pass interference call that brought the Seahawks down to the 25 yard line on their final drive ranks as the worst pass interference call that I have ever seen. The defensive back was playing the ball looking for an interception and had inside position. The receiver was grabbing the D backs shoulder pad with his right hand and holding the D back's left arm with his left hand. And the zebra calls "defensive" pass interference? In the hall of bad calls, that's the worst one I've ever seen. And I've been watching game for almost 50 years now.

Jennings did not bring the ball to his chest. He was prevented from doing so by Tate's arm/hand, which was between Jennings chest and the ball.

That being said, the ball was much closer to Jennings torso than Tate's. I have no idea if the NFL takes "proximity to body mass" in consideration when determining possession. I don't think so.

Still, Tate pushed off very blatantly. If the OPI had been called correctly, the game would have been over regardless of the call on the play.

Then again, Seattle had to score a TD only because the refs made a bad call on Rogers' 3rd down run on GB's previous scoring possession. The ref on the field made the right call, but it was overturned, despite clear evidence it shouldn't have been overturned. He didn't make the first down marker, and GB faced 4th down and probably would have kicked a FG, so Seattle would have won on a FG of their own on their next possession.

Which time? The late hit that negated an INT on Seattle's 2nd to last drive. Or the PI call on 1st and 30 on Sam Shields? Or the No call on the Sam Shields Offensive PI on the last play? Or are you talking about MD Jennings INT that was somehow given to Golden Tate? Whatever. This is what the game has come to. I knew a team would get screwed. Unfortunately it was the Packers.

I do feel sorry for that official coming up and looking at the players, realizing he had to make a call. There is not way that he could have actually known whether it was a shared catch when the players came down by looking at them after they have been on the ground for several seconds. He was screwed and had to make a call.

The referee with the best vantage point made the right call. How he was overruled is beyond me.